There is an increasing need for agents which are effective against opportunistic mycotic infections by such agents as Cryptococcus, Candida, Aspergillus, Histoplasma, Coccidioides, Paracoccidioides, Blastomyces, Fusarium, Sporothrix, Trichosporon, Rhizopus, Pseudallescheria, dermatophytes, Paeciliomyces, Alternaria, Curvularia, Exophiala, Wangiella, Penicillium, Saccharomyces, Dematiaceous fungi, Pneumocystis carinii and so on. The present uses, i.e., polyenes, such as amphotericin B, cause severe side effects and azoles, such as fluconazole, are only fungistatic. The lipopeptide compound [I] is cyclic hexapeptide which inhibits cell wall 1,3β-D-glucan synthesis. The lipopeptide compound [I] has shown potent in vivo activity against Candida, Pneumocystis carinii, Aspergillus, as well as the other fungal pathogens listed above.
Combination use with antifungal drugs may provide additional options for treating Aspergillus and other fungal pathogens.
Previous studies have evaluated the efficacy of other lipopeptide compounds against Cryptococcus neoformans in combination with amphotericin B and fluconazole (Abruzzo et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemo. 1995, 39:1077-1081 and Bartizal et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemo. 1995, 39:1070-1076). However, none of these studies have demonstrated the results found using the lipopeptide compound [I].